Family Blood
by DarkAngel0410
Summary: Third in my 'Family' series. SLASH!


Story Title:Family Blood

Story Type:Slash  
Characters:Ted DiBiase, Cody Rhodes, Bret DiBiase, Randy Orton, Mike Mizanin, Evan Bourne, John Cena, Jack Swagger, Shane O'Mac, and almost any other wrestler that you can name that's on the current roster

Pairings:Codaisi, Randy/OFC, possible other ones by the end of this one

Rating:PG-13

Disclaimer:Not mine...they belong to themselves and Vince. And honestly, if I did own them, would I be writing this? No, I'd be doing it *evil grin*

Warnings:Language, Humor, Character Bashing, plenty of Angst in this one; Blood and Violence

A/N:Here's the next one in my Family series; the first one was Family Ties and then Family Fun. You don't have to read the other two to understand this one, but it does have some useful backround. OK, here's the angst everyone's been waiting for, lol. The muses have been strangely quiet; Teddy and Cody have gone back to cuddling, Randy is polishing his title, Mike -who, I thought, had completely disappeared- showed up again, clutching his MITB briefcase and looking like he'd been on a bender for a month and dragging an equally scruffy Alex Riley with him. Tried to convince Mike that I did not need an A-Ri muse, but he just pouted at me and whined about how Teddy gets Cody to play with, so I let it go. God, I hope this doesn't mean everyone's going to want to be paired up. I really don't need any more noise inside my head...

A/N2:OK,this was way longer then _I_ thought it would be, and there's a lot flashbacking (is that even a word?) and some more info on the history of our fave threesome. I was going to try and edit it, but *shudders* the muses revolted. And yeah, it geeked me (seeing an enraged Cody is not as cute as you'd think), not to mention, it woke up some of my other previously sleeping muses. So, now, complete chaos. Fucken muses, can't live with them, can't wrote a story without them. Oh, well, at least they're cute.

Bret wandered the arena, virtually unnoticed. That's the best part of being The Million Dollar Man's youngest, he thought bitterly. Ted got everyone's attention growing up; Dad's, Mom's, the trainer's...Cody's. Bret shoved that thought away with the ease of long practice. Who cared if Dusty's youngest wanted to fuck his brother? Growling, Bret shoved that thought away as well. The more he tried to ignore, the angrier he got. He wanted to pay his brother back for everything he'd did to him, everything he put him through. But he knew to truly hurt his brother, he couldn't go after just his brother. No, he had to go after everything -and one- he loved.

Life, Ted thought, was pretty good. He was getting more air time, the crowd was reacting to him more and more (and he could honestly admit that the fact that the fans were booing him didn't really matter; he had wanted to be a heel as long as he had wanted to be a wrestler, and the more boos and hisses and put downs he got, the better he was getting), and, of course, him and Cody were still together.

Since he was alone, Ted let himself get sentimental for a minute. Him and Cody. Ever since he could remember it had always been him and Cody. From the first time he remembered meeting Cody -he had been five and Cody had been two; it was also, strangely enough, the first time he could remember meeting Randy, who had been seven- they had been stuck together in the best way possible. Every time Cody fell down, or got hurt, he would run to Ted, so he could 'make it better'. They lived in different states so once school got started he didn't really get to see him until summer vacation got there, but he would ask after him every time his dad came home for a day or two.

As they got older, Cody would shadow him and Randy as they played card games, or try to help them with whatever prank they had thought up. He could also remember the first time the three of them -with Bret slugging along behind them- had gotten into a fist fight. Cody, who had always been shy about talking around people he didn't know, was rambling a mile a minute about something he had done at school, while him and Randy had been on the look out for Divas -although, his effort in this was only half hearted, at best; even though he was only thirteen, he already knew that girls didn't really do anything for him.

Cody had been getting excited about whatever had happened at school, and his lisp was getting more pronounced as a result, when they heard someone laughing behind them. They had turned around, half curious to who it could be, only to see Joe Hennig and one of his friends come around the corner of the hallway, smirking.

"Look who finally learned to talk," Joe sneered at Cody, who turned red and hid behind Ted. "Of course, you can't really understand him, but you hafta take baby steps, right?"

Ted took two steps forward, too enraged to even speak, only to be brought up short when Randy spoke. "If I were you, I'd watch my fucken mouth," Randy told him coldly, his eyes fixed on Joe, like he was thinking about eating him. Years later, Ted wasn't surprised when they tagged him as The Viper and The Apex Predator. Some things were evident even back then.

"Look, what're sticking up for him for anyway? He's a damn baby; a fucken retard. He can't even talk normal." Joe told Randy, a sly look coming into his eyes. "Or is that your plan? He's too stupid to tell anyone when you-" Randy cut Joe off, slamming him against the wall. Ted stepped up next to Randy, his eyes on the other guy, who liked he might be getting ideas about jumping Randy when he was distracted. Cody had followed, keeping himself behind Ted. Bret had started backing up down the hallway; Ted knew this without looking, Bret always ran whenever it looked like there was going to be a fight.

"You're fucken disgusting," Randy spit out, getting his face next to Joe's. "He's only ten. I don't know what kind of sicko world you live in, but here, we don't talk about little kids that way," Randy informed him, loathing coating his voice. Joe turned red, his eyes hard. "And second, Cody's one of us," Randy informed him, motioning between him and Ted. "You fuck with him, you fuck with us. You call him a retard, Joe, and I might start taking offense. Understand?" Randy asked softly, his eyes glittering.

"Be careful how ya answer," Ted said, glancing at Joe. "I'd love to be able to teach ya what an ass kicking feels like."

When Ted's attention was diverted, Joe's friend shoved him back and threw a punch that barely clipped his jaw. Ted dropped back a step, then swung as hard as he could hitting the kid in the jaw alot harder then he had.

Randy turned his head to make sure Ted was handling it, and Joe took advantage, kneeing Randy in the stomach and attempting to shove him backwards. Randy grunted, took the hit and hardly stumbled back before he straightened up, grinning at Joe. Joe took an uneasy step backwards, unnerved by the smile on Randy's face. He realized his mistake when he bumped up against the wall.

Randy rolled his shoulders, a half smile on his face that even scared Ted a little. Joe's eyes widened and he looked around for an escape. Randy punched him in the face; Joe doubled over, slumping down the wall.

"Oh, no, Hennig," Randy taunted, reaching down and grabbing Joe by the hair and pulling him back. Randy punched him in the stomach this time and kept him up by his hair again. "I think Cody needs his own payback, don't you?" Joe just looked at him, shaking his head. "Ted?" Randy questioned without taking his eyes off of Joe.

Ted looked down and sneered at the kid at his feet. He was staring at Randy, his face pale and frightened. "Get out of here," Ted hissed at him, watching as he scurried down the hall without looking back. Ted looked around, cursing to himself when he noticed Bret was also missing. He walked over to Randy, Cody following him.

"Bret ran off," Ted said, low enough so that only Randy could hear him. "He'll go right to my Dad." Randy nodded, but the next words he said weren't for Ted.

"Codes," Randy said gently, the tone at odds with the look on his face. "Come here." Cody looked at Ted and when his friend nodded, slipped in between Ted and Randy. "How'd you know I wath thtill here? I could've ran with Bret." Cody said nervously, licking his lips. Randy looked away from Joe long enough to exchange a smile with Ted.

"No, you wouldn't," Randy told him. "You're not a coward, Codes. You'd never leave me and Ted to handle a problem alone, would you?" "No," Cody said fiercely, his eyes on Joe. "And I'm not a retard, either!" Ted put a hand on Cody's shoulder. "We know that, Cody," Ted told him. "We never thought that. Did we, Randy?" "Of course not," Randy answered, jerking Joe's head up again.

"Now, Codes, this jack off," Randy told Cody, bashing Joe's head off the wall so Cody knew who he was talking about. "Called you that as well as some other shit that I'll explain when you're older," he snarled, smacking Joe's head on the wall again, considerably harder then he had a minute ago. Cody could feel himself get angrier until he got so mad that he lashed out and kicked Joe's kneecap as hard as he could. He drew in a breath, thinking he had done something wrong, but relaxed once he heard Ted and Randy chuckling.

"OK, Cody I want you to look at Joe, remember how mad he made you," Randy said quietly, his hand on Cody's shoulder and Ted's hand on his head. "And then I want you to, if you can, punch him as hard as you can." Cody thought for a minute and then asked the only question he could think of: "You want me to punch hith face?"

Randy grinned at him, and Teddy roared with laughter but it was OK, 'cause Cody knew they were his friends, and he knew they were laughing with him and not at him, not at the way he talked, but just at something he happened to say, and for Cody it was the best feeling of his young life.

"That's up to you, Codes," Randy told him chuckling a little. "If you want to hit him there, go for it." "I do," Cody said his hands already curled into fists. "I want to him to talk ath funny ath he thinkth I do." Randy nodded seriously. "OK, Cody. But I want you to understand something first: Joe's an asshole, no doubt about it, but just 'cause someone's an asshole doesn't mean you can beat them up, understand?"

Cody nodded, and he did -sort of. It's like he couldn't hit everyone who made fun of him, but he could protect himself if someone came after him. And, even for as young as he is, Cody understood that whatever Joe had said to Randy had set him off as surely as a slap to the face would have. Cody realized that there were just some things that you should never say to someone, and if you did happen to say them, you should expect a fist to the face in retaliation. It was a lesson that he learned -and remembered- for the rest of his life.

"And this is the only free shot I'll ever give you. Do you know what that means?" Randy asked, his voice serious and Cody knows this is important, and so he thinks about the question instead of automatically answering 'yes' like he usually would. "No." Cody answered after a second, half afraid that he had ruined everything by not knowing the answer.

"It just means, the next time there's a fight and you want to get involved, I'm not gonna hold anyone still so you can hit them. You'll have to be able to handle yourself, to have mine and Ted's back," Randy continued, smiling slightly at the look of determination on Cody's face. "You're a little too young for any weight training right now, but in a couple years, you could start getting into shape." Cody nodded, a fierce look on his face. "I will," he promised fervently. "I'll never let you guyth down."

"We know that," Ted assured him, looking at Randy and trying to remind him about Bret running to their Dad. Randy frowned and nodded, understanding.

"OK, Codes," Randy said, smacking Joe's head on the wall for the third time. "Go for it." Cody took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. After a minute his fist struck out and he hit Joe in the mouth, and then in the eye, and then there's a blur until Ted pulls him off away from Joe. "Easy, Codes," Ted murmured, even though judging by the smirk on his face, he's more amused then anything else. "Ya can stop now." And for some reason, Ted's voice calms him down, reassures him in a way that no one ever has before.

Cody looks back at Joe, surprised to see half his face is a mess, his left eye swollen shut, his cheek bruised, his mouth cut open. Cody looks down at his hand, astonished that his own hand is red, his knuckles bruised and battered. "That wath me?" He asked, the astonishment in his voice now. "I did that?"

"Yeah, it was you," Randy said, pride warming his voice. "Get that, Hennig?" Randy asked, his voice changing, ice sliding over it until it's as cold as winter in Canada. "Got your ass handed to you by a ten year old." Randy leaned over, so his next words were delivered right to Joe's ear. "The next time I see you, you better not have anything to say about Cody at all. Got it?"

When Joe nods, Randy lets him go, watching as he slid to the floor. Randy delivered one last boot to Joe's ribs and then turned around and looked at his friends.

"Come on, guys, let's get something to eat." Randy suggested, starting down the hallway. Cody had followed eagerly, yelling how he wanted ice cream, Ted at a more sedate pace, sharing an amused glance with Randy. And in that moment, Legacy was born; in heart and spirit, and now, fifteen years later, they were still best friends.

Ted knows he has been blessed when it comes to his friends. He was telling the truth when he told Bret that Randy and Cody meant more to him then his family did; their history together was long and intertwined. Randy was the first person he had come out to when he was 16. He had been drunk at the time, crying, terrified that he would lose everything because of that. Randy had washed him up, put him to bed and when he woke up, fed him aspirin and coffee and told him to stop being a moron.

"We're in it until the end, Ted," Randy had told him, smoking a cigarette and drinking a cup of coffee. "You're my best friend; the only one I can trust, besides Cody, to have my back and mean it. I'm not going to throw that away just because you happen to like dick." Blunt, honest and to the point- typical Randy.

Cody was the second person, and his answer had been the same as Randy's -although, Ted reminisced with a laugh, Cody's had been more relieved then anything else. They had decided, after a lot of discussion, not to tell Ted's family until it was absolutely necessary.

Casey had become his sister, his friend, the one he went to when he needed advice on everything from Cody to the business to dealing with Maryse. The only thing he had never talked to her about had been his family; he didn't want anyone to see how upset it made him. He hardly mentioned them at all, even to Cody. But after Bret showed up, he found himself telling her about it, more and more. From the disastrous Sunday dinner when he had finally come out -that had been when he had started dating Cody; it was also the night of the infamous holy water incident- to the last time he had gone home for Thanksgiving -almost two years ago, Ted realized with a sigh- it was like he couldn't help himself.

When the phone rang, playing Cody's ring tone, Ted smiled and glanced at the clock. Forty five minutes before his entrance, right on time.

"Hey, Baby Boy," Ted answered warmly, sitting on the bench and reaching for his wrestling boots. "Hey, Teddy," Cody said, laughter in his voice. Ted could hear Casey talking in the backround along with Raw's theme music. "Called to tell you we'll be watching over in John's dressing room." "John's?" Ted repeated, raising an eyebrow. They usually watched in Randy and Casey's room, or in their dressing room. Or, if all else failed, from catering. "Yeah, we got Evan with us." Cody answered, and Ted could hear the smirk in his voice.

Ted laughed. "Ah, now I understand. OK, I'll stop by after my match, so I can wish ya luck before your tag with Drew." "Alright. Love you, Teddy." Cody told him, laughing. Ted could hear Casey and Mike teasing Cody about it. "Love ya, too, Baby Boy." Ted hung up the phone and slipped it into his overnight bag.

He was suiting up for his match against Dustin, lacing his boots when Maryse waltzed into his dressing room. Ted sighed and rolled his eyes. "Hi, Maryse." He greeted her wearily. "Hello, Ted," Maryse said, her accent lighter then it was on TV. "Are you ready?"

Ted winced inwardly at the innuendo in her voice, but because he was a gentleman -no matter what his mother thought- he just smiled and held out his arm so he could escort her to the ring.

As they walked out the door and down the hallway, Ted's mind was on the match, and Maryse was babbling and his last thought as they approached the gorilla curtain was that he couldn't wait until later so he could see Cody.

Then his music hit, he heard the boos and hisses from the crowd, and his trademark smirk was on his face, and he was lost to the only thing he would ever love as much as Cody -wrestling.

Cody hung up his phone, smiling a little. "Aw, look at Coddles," Mike laughed, reaching over and pinching Cody's cheek. "Having fun talking to his Teddy Bear, ain't he?" "Yeah," Casey agreed, snickering. "Cause he loves his Teddy Bear." There was a pause and Cody rolled his eyes, he knew how this was going to end. "For...ever." Casey and Mike said, drawing the word out.

The three of them broke out in laughter, earning fond looks from the other two in the room.

John shook his head, looking at Evan out of the corner of his eye. There was something about the younger man that drew him, made him wonder enough to almost want to try again. He swore after the mess with Phil, he wouldn't date anyone in the business, but as he saw Evan smile in response to something Mike said, he knew he had to try.

John caught Casey's eye and when she smiled at him and winked, he knew she had set him up. He thought Evan had been hanging around the terrible threesome more lately, and he supposed he really should have noticed when Casey had told him that she caught Evan checking him out in his new ring gear and when Cody had pointed out, rather slyly John realized now that he thought about it, that Evan was single. And he definitely should've known something was up when Mike just happened to have a picture of Evan, without a shirt on after a workout, that he just happened to accidentally show John when he was looking for something else entirely different.

"You look entirely too smug." John informed Casey, crossing his arms. "What can I say? I'm fucken awesome." Casey retorted, grinning and raising her eyebrows when she saw how close Evan was sitting next to him. Mike and Cody were smiling, too, and all three of them looked beyond pleased. John wanted to be mad, he really did, but he knew that they were only trying to help him.

Cody snickered, and got up from the couch where he was sitting with Casey and Mike. "Where you going?" Mike asked, curious. "Thought I heard someone in the hallway, Dad," Cody answered. "Is that OK?" Shaking his head, Cody walked into the hallway, letting the door swing shut.

Ted rolled out of the ring, sneering at Dustin, playing it up for the fans. Maryse followed yelling in French, running her hands over his shoulders. He winced when she touched his biceps, and deftly moved from under her hand to turn around and glare at Dustin standing the ring with his belt and Aksana.

Behind the curtain, Ted grinned, rolling his shoulders. That had been a great match; it wouldn't be long until he was in the running for the WWE title. The thought of facing off against Randy for the big gold made him grin even more until he thought his face was going to burst.

"You look like that cat from the movie; the one with that pirate." Maryse purred, putting her hand on Ted's shoulder again. That threw Ted for a minute while he tried to work through Maryse's logic. "Oh, ya mean the Cheshire Cat in Alice In Wonderland," Ted laughed. "The one with Johnny Depp." "Yes, that is the one." Maryse agreed, running a hand down Ted's back.

"Look, Maryse," Ted said, stepping away from the blonde. "You're beautiful and everything, and if I was actually into girls, I would go for it, but as it is, I'm not." Maryse narrowed her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "What is it? What can he do for you that I can't?" Maryse demanded, her voice rising.

Chris passed by them on his way out to the ring and gave Ted a sympathetic look. I can't believe this is happening, Ted thought, amused. Maryse is acting like banshee -or whatever the French equivalent is- because she's jealous, when she knew from the very beginning that I had Cody.

"What does he have that I don't?" Maryse asked, her voice shrill enough to have made Rigs lose his mind if he was here. Ted felt his lips twitch at the last question, wondering what her face would look like if he told her about what their friends -Casey and Mike- had coined 'the Colossus of Rhodes'.

"Maryse," Ted said gently, a small smile on his lips. "There's nothing ya could do or say that could change my mind about Cody. I love him, I've always loved him. Nothing's ever gonna change that."

Ted turned away from her and made his way towards John's room. Turning down the hallway, he noticed a bunch of people at the end of the corridor. His heart picked up when he heard someone yelling for a started running when he recognized it as John's voice.

He skidded to a halt as he stared at the chaos in front of him. John was trying to keep Mike from hitting someone. Mike, who was the most laid back person Ted had ever met, _**Mike**_ was screaming, his face enraged as he kicked someone in the ribs. Ted's attention was pulled away and down to the floor when he saw Evan on his knees, trying to wake someone up. He dropped to his knees when he recognized Casey.

"Oh, my God, Casey," Ted moaned, his mind blank. Casey was on her back, moving around a little bit as she started coming to. Evan looked at Ted, fear in his eyes and said: "Ted, I'm sorry, I don't know what..." Ted stared at Evan, unsure what the smaller man was trying to say.

His eyes strayed past Casey's body and saw... His mind turned away from that thought, terrified of what it meant. His hand reached and touched the bruise there. His Cody lay there, bruised and battered, broken.

"What happened?" He growled, his voice rough and dangerous even though his hand stayed gentle as he stroked Cody's face over and over again, willing him to get up. "I don't really know," Evan said, running a hand through his hair. "We were sitting there joking around, then Cody said he thought he heard something in the hall, so he went out to see what it was. He was gone a few minutes, but then we heard this strange noise, like a chair hitting something," Evan faltered when he saw the look in Ted's eyes. After a second he realized it wasn't directed at him, and continued on.

"We all looked at each other, like 'what the hell was that'?, then we heard it again, and Casey got up and ran out the door and then we heard her say something and there was that noise again and then Mike got out there and well," Evan rambled. He paused and took a deep breath and pointed to John and Mike.

"Mike, you need to stop it," John told him, grabbing his arm. "You're gonna kill him." "Who fucken cares?" Mike roared, kicking the guy on the floor in front of him. The kick landed on the guy's arm and he groaned. "Did you see what he did to Cody? What he did to CASEY?" Mike yelled, getting more angry, shoving John away from him and sent the bigger man reeling in shock.

Mike picked the guy up and punched him in the face. Ted caught the guy's profile and stared. No, it couldn't be.

"Bret?" Ted said in disbelief, standing up. John managed to drag Mike away from Bret and both men stared at Ted. Cody and Casey started moaning and Ted dropped on the floor next to Cody.

"Baby Boy," Ted said frantically, holding Cody's hand. "Can ya hear me?" "Teddy," Cody said weakly, opening his eyes and struggling to sit up. "What happened?" "Stay down," Ted said firmly, almost near tears. "At least until the trainer gets here." Next to them Casey was struggling against Mike to get up, while John and Evan were checking on Bret.

"Stop it," Mike snapped, holding Casey's shoulder down. Ted could hear the relief in his voice and when he looked at the other man he could see it on his face. "No," Casey said, still trying to get up. "I need to go kick that fucker's ass." "I already took care of it," Mike informed her, a ghost of a smile on his face. "Now, lay down until the trainer or the medic or whoever the hell checks you out."

"Fucken bossy," Casey joked weakly, turning her head and seeing Ted and Cody. "Teddy. Cody, is he OK? I tried to get there faster but I couldn't." "He's fine, sweetheart." Ted reassured her before she got herself worked up. Cody turned his head until he could see her, wincing at the twinge in his neck. "Hey." Cody said. "Hey." Casey said, moving her hand around until she brushed against Cody's. Cody turned his hand over until his fingers clasped Casey's. "You look like shit," Casey informed him, smiling to let him know she was teasing. "Oh, yeah, 'cause you look hot as hell." Cody said.

They looked over as John and Evan got Bret sitting up against the wall. "My ribs," Bret moaned, clutching at his side. "I think they're broken." John stared at him in disbelief, there was no apology for what he did in his voice, nothing except whining for his own injuries.

Evan ran off to get help, since for once backstage was almost empty. John came back and leaned against the wall closest to them.

"You're lucky Mike got to ya first," Ted growled, finally looking at his brother. "How the fuck could ya do this? Did Dad put ya up to this? 'Cause I swear I'll fucken kill him for this."

Bret's mind raced as he tried to figure out what to say. Things had not gone according to plan, he was supposed to have gotten away before anyone even realized Cody was hurt. Before he even realized what he was going to say he blurted out: "It was just supposed to be a stunt. Ya know, to show Vince that I was ready." "A stunt?" Mike and Ted echoed.

"Well, I doubt that," John told Bret, disgust in his voice. "But regardless, you got off lucky with Mike. When Randy finds out... " John trailed off, a smile on his face. Bret cursed, trying to stand up. Ted watched as he fell over because he couldn't support any weight on his right leg.

"You did a good job on him." Ted complimented Mike, his voice empty, as if they were talking about some stranger and not his little brother. The whole time he was talking, he kept petting Cody's face and arm. "Especially since you only had like, ten minutes, tops, before I dragged you off of him." John agreed as he looked down the hall and wondered where Evan was with the medic. "What can I say? I can move fast when motivated," Mike told them. "Yeah, that's what your boyfriend said." Cody said weakly, turning his head slightly so he could grin at Mike. Mike rolled his eyes. "Real funny, Codes." Mike sneered, but he ran a hand over Cody's head softly.

"They're down here." John sighed in relief when he saw Evan running down the hall with the medic behind him.

The medic -whose name was Steve- checked out both Casey and Cody. Casey was fine, a mild concussion and a few bruises were all. Steve gave her some pain killers and told her to take it easy. Cody had a concussion as well, but also some cracked ribs. And he ordered Cody to see the trainer and a doctor before he went back onto the active roster.

Steve tried to check out Bret, but he kept crawling away from him and trying to get away.

"Hope he's still here when Randy gets a hold of him." Casey said nastily, holding an ice pack to the side of her head. "I don't think I've ever heard you say anything like that before." Evan told her, sounding slightly confused. "Did you see what he did to Cody?" Casey spit out. "Look at him!" Ted growled and put a hand on the back of Cody's neck to reassure himself that Cody was still here.

Both Cody and Casey were sitting up, leaning against the wall. Cody's ice pack was against the back of his head and put a hand on Ted's arm to try to calm him down. "Wait until I get a hold of him. Might wait 'til he's healed up a little, so I can break his face again." Ted told them off handedly. Before anyone could answer him, they heard Randy yelling.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN CASEY'S HURT?" Randy roared as he came down the hall. The couple of people in the halls jumped out of his way, afraid of getting beaten for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Bret moaned and tried to get up again.

Randy stopped right in front of them, looking from Casey to Cody and then when he heard someone moaning in fear, his head swung over to take in Bret's condition. Putting everything to together, he kneeled in front of Casey, wrapping a hand around the back of her neck. "Are you OK?" He asked softly, the venom just beneath the surface. "Yeah, babe, I'm fine." Casey reassured him, leaning forward and giving him a brief peck on the lips. "Cody's the one who really got hurt." She added.

Randy looked at Cody and took in the bruises on his face and sides. "Who did it?" Randy demanded softly, the softness in his voice not delegating the menace one bit. "Bret." John answered, knowing his friend wasn't going to want a long discussion right now. Randy nodded as if he had expected this answer. "And Bret?" "Me." Mike told him, anger still in his voice. "Good job." Randy told him, before looking back at Casey. "Are you sure you're alright?" Randy asked again, concern on his face. Casey sighed and smiled. "Yeah. Just a mild concussion."

Randy looked around and saw Bret again. He got to his feet and walked over to Bret. "Run," he told him, his voice even, his face calm -unless you knew him, then you could hear the threat in that even voice, see the anger on that calm face. "Run. 'Cause when I find you, I'm going to tear you apart. Understand?"

Without waiting for an answer, he walked back over to Casey and his friends, noting with amusement that Evan was holding John's hand. "Ready to head back to the hotel?" Randy asked Casey, helping her to her feet. "I got a match and then I'll check on you before I go to my room," Mike told her, giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I'll stop and talk to the boss, too."

"I'll do it," Ted told Mike, smiling at the relieved look on his face. "I have to tell him Cody can't wrestle tonight anyway." Ted exchanged looks with Randy and nodded, letting the older man know he would tell Vince about Bret, as well. "Baby Boy, Randy's going to drive ya over to the hotel, OK?" Cody nodded, exhaustion starting to show on his face.

Ted kissed Cody and ran his thumb over Cody's bottom lip. "Stay with them 'til I get back." Cody nodded again even though it wasn't really a question.

"Evan, you need a ride?" Randy asked as they turned to leave. "Nah," Evan answered, blushing a little. "I'm gonna hang around for a little bit." Casey snickered, but didn't say anything.

Ted walked them out to the parking lot, helped Randy get Casey and Cody into the car, then watched as they drove off. As he walked back into the building, he decided it was time to talk to his father again, because if the old man didn't do anything about Bret, he was going to.


End file.
